Call_Solutions Protocall Communications Wins Gold In Broadband Race

Over the past four years, Protocall, a Call_Solutions company, located in Laurel and Baltimore, Maryland, has groomed thousands for the joy of high speed Internet access, and this Spring, the companys innovative techniques will be honored with teleservices highest award. For the fourth consecutive year, the company has won the industrys most prestigious measure of quality in customer interaction, the 2001 MVP Quality Award, sponsored by Customer Inter@ction Solutions magazine. With over 3,200 teleservices firms nationwide, Protocalls third Gold MVP this year is remarkable. Fewer than ten are so honored annually.

Waukesha, Wis., February 24, 2002 -- When technology marketer Protocall Communications, a Call_Solutions company, rings a business or home telephone, those who answer learn how to save money, simplify life, and gain the advantages of upgrading to an improved version of a service they are already using or are entitled to buy at a discount.

Over the past four years, Protocall, located in Laurel and Baltimore, Maryland, has groomed thousands for the joy of high speed Internet access, and this Spring, the companys innovative techniques will be honored with teleservices highest award. For the fourth consecutive year, the company has won the industrys most prestigious measure of quality in customer interaction, the 2001 MVP Quality Award, sponsored by Customer Inter@ction Solutions magazine. With over 3,200 teleservices firms nationwide, Protocalls third Gold MVP this year is remarkable. Fewer than ten are so honored annually.

Protocall president Ellen Kleinknecht says, selling costly and complicated broadband products, on ten-minute or less telephone calls is no small feat. We get the greatest satisfaction, however, knowing that weve made life easier for the people who buy our clients worthy products." Users with a traditional 56K connection either pay for a second phone line to access the web or tie up a single line to check email, pay bills, shop, chat or surf. Slow connections burn time and staying connected 24/7 is a challenge, among other downsides.

We spend thousands recruiting and training sales reps who can discuss the complexities," Kleinknecht explains. Consumers are definitely skittish when it comes to trying broadband while business owners are quick to make the change." She says reps must be able to answer hardware, software, audio and video questions and explain data that show paying for a second line is not cost effective and how downloading speed is accelerated by up to 50 times when customers switch.

Deb Liebel, Protocalls Chief Operating Officer, who must mesh the call centers employees, processes, incentives, and technology to achieve the stellar results says, its an eye opener for prospective clients when they see how this dedicated and personalized form of sales is superior to advertising and direct mail -- especially when we show them the numbers."
               
Protocalls cable and telecommunications clients offer cable modems, DSLs, T-1s, and T-3s at discounts to existing cable television and telephone subscribers. Contacts result in sales of one to two connections per hour, depending upon the broadband product and discount. Protocall keeps sales costs down by strengthening customer relationships, minimizing cancellations, scheduling and tracking installations, placing follow-up courtesy calls, and accepting all or part of the risk. Unlike call centers that work on hourly compensation, we do not get paid unless we make the sale," Liebel says.

Having contributed their part to broadbands entry into over eight million households, Protocall looks forward to helping convert the other 64 million computer owners who are not already convinced of the benefits. We are excited about the future of high speed Internet access and our companys expertise, and potential for growth, in this area," says Kleinknecht.

Call_Solutions.com, Inc., a full-service provider of customer relationship marketing services, recently acquired Protocall Communications. Headquartered in Waukesha, Wisconsin, the company offers specialized 'call centers inside the campaign for telephone order processing and customer service, direct mail promotional campaigns with personalized, digital print production (e-mail or print), and advanced on-line order entry systems tied to fulfillment operations.

Protocall specializes in high-tech business-to-business and business-to-consumer outbound teleservices, including digital broadband products and services, local and long distance, paging, telephone sets, DSL, T-1s, T-3s, and calling and term plans. Protocall also is a recipient of the Award for Customer Contact Excellence (ACCE), and the American Teleservices Associations (ATA) TELO Award. The firm has won the Maryland Blue Chip Enterprise Initiative Award and The CTAM Broadband and Cable Modem Marketing Case Study Competition. The companys other three MVP Quality Awards were in the area of business-to-business telecommunications products and Internet connectivity costing up to $35,000 per sale.

Kleinknecht and Liebel are the authors of Outsourcing Cable Modem Sales To A Teleservices Firm," CTAM Magazine, Spring 2001 and Telemarketing Pays: Outsource Your Telecom Sales and Beat the Competition," Teletimes, September/October 2001, respectively.

Contacts:    

Kevin Kasper
Call_Solutions
262-827-6404
info@callsolutions.com